FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT TATA SKY - PAGE 2

NEW DELHI: The transponder lease agreement Department of Space had with Tata Sky gave "certain benefits" to the company which were not offered to any other DTH service providers, the Comptroller and Auditor General today said. The report of Management of satellite capacity for DTH service, which was tabled in Parliament, said that since the DoS could not launch communication satellites on time, most of the DTH service providers opted for foreign satellites. The DTH service providers did not prefer to return to INSAT system due to "trust deficit", it said.

Right at the time of implementation of compulsory digitization in India, Tata Group's Tata Sky is planning an IPO to raise about Rs 2000 crores by putting on offer 25% stake, sources with direct knowledge said. Tata Sky expects a valuation of Rs 8000 crores when it hits the capital market. Sources suggest that the IPO process has just begun and Tata Sky is planning an IPO by the second half of the next calendar year. Sources who are familiar with the development say that the IPO process is at a nascent stage and the owners have begun informal talks with the banks regarding the issue.

In a bid to differentiate its brand offerings and connect with the masses, DTH major Tata Sky has launched a new campaign. The campaign shows two friends in different situations while on holiday-at a parade, outside a Hollywood actor's home, and at a bank that's being robbed. But even in the worst possible situation, their experience shows, it always pays to ask-even if it means asking two ferocious dogs to let them into the movie star's home. "The campaign urges consumers to ask about the benefits and promotions offered by Tata Sky," said a company spokesperson, adding, "the idea is simple and that's exactly what is so brilliant about it: Go ahead, no harm in asking.

MUMBAI: Korea-based Humax group would supply set-top boxes for the Tata Sky Ltd, a Tata Group and Star joint venture for its direct-to-home services, which is slated to be launched by the middle of this year. "We are committed to building a state-of the art DTH operation in India and offer customers with the best satellite TV services available. Our aggrement with Humax takes us a step closer to our goal," Tata Sky Ltd CEO Vikram Kaushik said in a release. Humax will manufacture set-top boxes in India and also provide after sales service and support network for Tata Sky customers, he added.

NEW DELHI: Direct-to-home operator TataSky today launched poetic literature-based interactive service 'Actve Javed Akhtar' in partnership with the celebrity lyricist in order to expand the range of differentiated content it provides to its customers. Under this service, Akhtar will read out poetry and dohas of yesteryear poets, including Ghalib, Mir, Kabeer and Rahim , which will be followed by poems and dohas sung by contemporary artists. Tata Sky has partnered with music television channel Insync to collaborate with composers and 50 singers to create original songs for the service.

NEW DELHI: ESPN-Star India has won its first legal battle against Tata Sky. The DTH service provider has assured the Delhi High Court that it will restore ESPN-Star's sports bouquet on its platform in a phased manner in the next 12 days. As per ESPN Software India counsel Nanji Ganpathy, the commercial agreement between the DTH provider and the sports broadcaster expired on March 15. Following this, Tata Sky had moved to TDSAT, which directed ESPN-Star not to disconnect its signals from the platform.

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: DTH major Tata Sky is now considering a second round of funding of $150-200 million and is in conversation with various private equity players such as Providence, Carlyle, Blackstone, Goldman Sachs and Apax Partners. Tata Sky is looking at diluting about 10% stake. The current holding structure of Tata Sky looks like this: 20% with Star (FDI), 10% with Temasek (FII) and 70% with the Tata's. By law, a DTH operator in India has to be have a minimum holding of 51% by an Indian entity.

NEW DELHI: In a move to widen its viewership base, Nimbus group owned Neo Sports has tied up with one of India's fastest growing DTH service provider Tata Sky on Tuesday. Neo sports which has bagged exclusive rights to telecast India-Australia ODI series later this year, would place a bouquet of its channels on Tata Sky, the channel said in a statement here. The upcoming seven-match ODI series against Australia in October followed by the Test and ODI series against Pakistan, and South Africa's visit in February are some of the important cricket events for which Neo Sports has the telecast rights.

NEW DELHI: After a tiff with its DTH rival Dish TV over its new pricing strategy, Tata Sky is now headed for a legal battle with ESPN Star Sports. The sports broadcaster has accused Tata Sky of blocking its signals on its platform and has threatened to take a legal recourse against the DTH operator. "It is extremely unfair on a DTH player to solve a commercial dispute by blocking our signals on its platform. We have very important sports series like Euro 2008 and French Open going on and the two million Tata Sky subscribers can't get our signals," ESPN India MD R C Venkatiesh said.

NEW DELHI: Broadcast tribunal TDSAT on Monday came down heavily on Zee-Turner for not providing its channels to Tata Sky, a Direct to Home (DTH) service provider and ordered that the channels should be made available by this evening. Criticizing the media group over non compliance of its order, TDSAT Chairman Justice Arun Kumar said, "tricks would not work ... at least I did not expect this from you ... you are more interested in earning money rather than implementation of the order".